Growing Pains
by HSGisME123
Summary: Growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional, and know one knows this better than The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up.


All children, except for one, grow up. You know this story. But, they never said _how_ he didn't grow up. Surely, they couldn't mean in _all_ ways. After all, he already showed signs of aging when he met Wendy. No infant is that tall, but he did forget as easily as one.

He kept an eye on Wendy all those years, too. He forgot why he felt he had to watch her, but if it was something that was always done, then it was something that he must do. He barely noticed when his island began to change, as well. No longer was it filled with pirates and Indians, but the evidence of their existence could be seen everywhere, from his clothing to the walls.

Yes, Peter eventually outgrew his clothing, and his name. It didn't sound at all like something the current generation would say naturally anyway. However, by the time he had thought of a name for himself, he had forgotten it, and settled on the first conglomoration of sounds that exited his now deeper vocal chords.

His current look was a mismatch of things he found in old chests of long-defeated foes. He did feel like he was still growing, though, as his pants were beginning to feel a tad bit too tight, and he much preferred to cover all of his legs at once.

His hair stood on all ends, still covered in specks of pixie dust, but now the pixies didn't like anyone, let alone him. His eyes started to grow dim and weary, as if they were older. He tried to fight it, but only succeeded in leaving the childlike wonder in one of them. He fought off aging for so long that by the time he was thirty, he was nearly two hundred.

The residents of Neverland also changed. Peteth, who didn't want any of them to age, since they couldn't fight it like he did, experimented with mixtures of fairy magic, mermaid enchantments, and Indian potions. The result completely disfigured all of the lost boys, and some of the animals. The children were no longer recognizable as humans, and didn't get any taller than they had been when they ran away. But, they didn't age, which is what he wanted.

The concotion he created smelled worse than anything imaginable, so the remainder, since there was so much, was dumped into the lagoon. However, he kept forgetting it was there, so he kept making more in order to transform future lost children. The lost ones started calling it a bog, and avoided it at all costs. It made a great game to send the little goblins out of favor with him to it.

All of that tinkering with magic taught him at least one good spell. He would gather the magic that was in the air and condense it into a sphere. The result was a crystal that was solid as diamond, but lighter than air when in contact with pixie dust. He enjoyed swirling the magic inside to show visions of what might be. Sometimes they would be true, sometimes false. But Pereth always got a smile out of it.

He'd grown too big for flight, he learned. He tried everything he could to float as he once used to, but had to settle for transformation, which was exhausting and time consuming. This also meant that he couldn't teach others to fly, so he had to be less flashy about taking them away to Neverland, which was growing into a sort of maze. Now he had to settle for subtle teleportation. It took him a few tries to master, but he eventually got the hang of it.

He also found that as he got bigger, the less time the girls would want to stay. Wendy stayed for a month or two. Jane, only weeks. Her daughter stayed a few days. By that formula, the next would only stay for mere hours, so he would have to make them count.

The original purpose for the stays had been lost, as well. The first was for mothering, the second, a maid. The third was content to take a meager walk. Who knew what the next would come for. Since he couldn't remember, the girls would have to make their own reasons.

Then there was the issue of consent to travel. Wendy invited herself, whereas Jane was polite and asked for permission. Her daughter was rebellious and wanted to leave her mother, but didn't quite like his idea, and had to be persuaded. By this progression, the next would have to have a pretty good reason to leave.

But some things didn't change. The boy who didn't look like one still loved to play games, and toyed with the idea of death. In fact, he still thought everything was a game, and he hated when others didn't play by the rules, especially his own lost goblins. Pareth would keep making up new rules, and not tell them, so as to find reasons to punish them.

He especially hated whenever someone thought his game was easy. _He_ should be the only one who finds his games easy, because _he_ made the games. But, he also didn't like opposition, and would fuss whenever someone complained that his rules were anything less than fair and equally treated.

Most of all, he still thought that everything was about him. _He_ was always being the nice one. _He_ was nothing less than the brave warrior hero. _He_ was always the main character, and would not stand for anything less than total obedience. Any defiance would be met with a tantrum of gargantuan proportions, and he had even been known to vanish when things didn't go quite as planned.

No matter how much the world tried to make him grow up, he would stay the cocky boy he always was. Now Jareth was after Wendy's great-granddaughter, Sarah. If only he could make this one stay. He'd have to use his best tactics on her.


End file.
